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FAIRY
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NY PUBLIC LIBRARY THE BRANCH L BRARIES
3 3333 08102 5229
THE GIRL VH° SAT
•BY THE ASHES-
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
NEW YORK - BOSTON • CHICAGO • DALLAS
ATLANTA • SAN FRANCISCO
MACMILLAN & CO., LIMITED
LONDON • BOMBAY • CALCUTTA
MELBOURNE
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
OF CANADA, LIMITED
TORONTO
THE
ASHES
Padrai
Illusit
JDugald St
Colutn
ated By
dtart Walker
" ••' • f
D j I '
- , at.
» I - r I
The Macrnillan Company
Newark 1929
COPYRIGHT, 1919,
BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY.
Set up and electrotyped. Published
December, 1919. Reprinted October,
1920; July, 1922; June, 1923; Janu-
ary, December, 1024; September, 1925;
October, 1926; February, 1928 ; June,
1020.
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BY
THE BERWICK & SMITH CO.
c
My Name Child
Colum Gavan-Duffy
•C°NTENT5-
PAOB
THE COMING OF CROW-FEATHER-CLOAK . . . .11
FRUIT FOR THE KING'S SON 19
GlRL-GO-WITH-THE-GoATS LOSES HOUSE ROOM ... 29
THE GIRL IN THE GOAT-SHED 39
FIRE FOR THE KING'S SON 51
CROW-FEATHER-CLOAK AGAIN 61
THROUGH THE THREE WOODS AND TO THE KING'S CASTLE 75
WATER FOR THE KING'S SON 87
WHAT THE GEESE TALKED OF 97
THE KING'S SON GOES SEEKING 103
How MAID-ALONE CEASED BEING A GOOSE-HERD . .113
THE GIRL WHO SAT BY THE ASHES 121
THE BALL IN THE KING'S CASTLE 127
THE MATCHLESS MAIDEN LOSES HER GOLDEN SLIPPER . 139
THE WISEST WOMAN COMES TO THE KING'S CASTLE . . 155
THE CLOCK STRIKES AND MAID-ALONE STAYS . . .169
THE GIRtVfl0 SAT-
BY THE ASHES
THE
C°A\ING°F CROW-
FEATHER- CIPAK
ECAUSE she used to herd Goats in the
high places and the rocky places, she
went by the name of Girl-go-with-
the-Goats. But that was not the name
that she herself called herself. She called
herself Maid-alone.
Her feet were scratched with briars
and bruised with stones. She was dressed
in rags threaded together. And neither
the red of pleasure nor the red of health
had ever come into her face.
She lived with her step-mother, Dame Dale,
and her two step-sisters, Berry-bright and Butter-
13
THE GIRL WHO SAT BY THE ASHES
cup. Now one day as Berry -bright was dizening
herself with a necklace of beads and Buttercup
was looking at herself in a plate of brass, an old
woman came up to the house. Her dress was the
queerest that anyone ever saw, a Cloak of crow-
feathers and nothing else.
'My, my, my," said the old woman as she came
into the house. ' My, my, my, what became of the
big tree that used to grow f ornenst your little house ? ' '
'The big tree!' said Berry -bright, 'I have
heard my mother speak of that big tree. But
she never saw it herself. They say that the
gypsies once lighted their fires around that big
tree, and that the leaves withered and the branches
and the root, and the tree died away. But my
mother never remembers to have seen it."
"My, my, my," said the old woman. "It
must be a long time since I was round this way.
And where is the well that used to be on my right-
hand side as I came into the house?"
'I used to hear my grandmother speak of that
well," said Buttercup. "But it was dried up
before her time."
14
THE COMING OF CROW-FEATHER-CLOAK
"My, my, my," said the old woman. 'It's a
long time since I was round this way. But now
that I'm here, maidens dear, put the griddle on
the fire and knead and bake a cake for me."
"There's no fire on the hearthstone as you see,"
said Berry-bright, "and we are not going to put
down a fire for you now."
"Nor can we knead a cake and put it on the
griddle for you," said Buttercup.
"We have just washed our hands in new
milk," said Berry- ^- -^^ bright.
wash them
said But-
"So that
will be as
blossoms,"
bright,
months
King's son is
i maiden to
"And there are
fairer than we
Buttercup, " and
15
"As w
every day,"
tercup.
our hands
white as
said Berry-
"In three
from this the
to choose out
wed."
no maidens
two," said
THE GIRL WHO SAT BY THE ASHES
\
one or the other of us the King's son is sure to
marry."
'And so we have to keep our hands white and
fair," said Berry-bright. "We couldn't think
of putting down a fire now that we have washed
them in new milk."
'And to put a griddle on!' said Buttercup.
'That would be to hold them over the fire and
make the skin of our hands split."
'And to knead a cake!' said Berry -bright.
'That would be to roughen our hands. The end
of it is, old woman, we can't do anything for you."
'My, my, my," said the old woman. "Then
I will get nothing to stay my hunger."
'If you had come before we washed our hands
with new milk," said Buttercup, 'we should have
done what you'd ask."
Then they went on doing what they had been
doing before, one looking at herself in a plate of
brass and the other dizening herself with a neck-
lace of beads. And the old woman in the Cloak
of crow-feathers was standing there looking at
them when Girl-go-with-the-Goats came in.
16
tt
ft
THE COMING OF CROW-FEATHER-CLOAK
'Did you milk the goats?' said Berry-bright.
'1 did," said Girl-go-with-the-Goats.
'Did you spread the clothes?" said Buttercup.
I did," said Girl-go-with-the-Goats.
I hope you've ground the corn at the quern
to-day," said Berry-bright, "for our mother, Dame
Dale, will be coming home hungry from the
market."
"I have ground the corn at the quern," said
Girl-go-with-the-Goats.
"Will you put down a fire and knead and bake
a cake for me?" said the old woman in the Cloak
of crow -feathers.
'I will," said Girl-go-with-the-Goats.
She went outside and came back with a bundle
of sticks. She took down a measure of flour that
she had ground at the quern and kneaded a
cake. She lit a fire and put the griddle on it.
She baked the cake, cut it into four quarters, and
gave it to the old woman.
'Help me over the stepping-stones, Brown
Girl," said the old woman to her then.
I will," said Girl-go-with-the-Goats. She went
c 17
ft
THE GIRL WHO SAT BY THE ASHES
out of doors with the old woman in the Crow-
feather Cloak.
"How that girl shows her ungentility," said
Buttercup. "It is easy knowing the stock she
came from by the way she makes up with every
beggar and stroller."
'A beggar she herself would be," said Butter-
cup, 'if our mother and ourselves did not give
her bread and bed."
'She saw her own kind no doubt in Crow-
feather-Cloak," said Berry -bright. "But call her
now, sister, and bring her back, so that she'll
have time to cook supper for our mother who
must be on her way home by this."
'Really, sister," said Buttercup, 'you might
go to the door yourself."
You will have that plate of brass worn out
looking at yourself," said Berry -bright.
So Berry-bright and Buttercup spoke to each
other : and neither went to the door to call Girl-
go-with-the-Goats, who by this time was as far
as the stepping-stones with the Old Woman in
the Crow-feather Cloak.
18
FRUIT P°R THE
KING'S S°N
Low when GIrl-go-with-the-Goats came
back from the stepping-stones with a
shining star on her forehead (and
how that star came to be there will
be told to you afterwards), when she came
back to the house of her step -mother,
lo and behold ! a surprising thing was
coming to happen.
For the King's son, no less ! had come
as far as the garden fornenst that house,
and sitting upon his white jennet, he
was looking across the ditch into the Garden.
And there was Buttercup and Berry-bright
THE GIRL WHO SAT BY THE ASHES
standing on the doorstep and making curtseys
to him. Girl-go-with-the-Goats stood one side of
the garden ditch, letting a bush hide her from the
King's son and from her two step-sisters.
4 Give me berries out of your garden, fair maids,"
said the King's son to Berry-bright and to Butter-
cup. One came towards him, and one went back
into the house. To the one who came to him he
handed a cup of silver. 'Take it into your hand,
damsel," he said, "and fill it with berries."
It was Buttercup who had come towards him.
— 7\Vx *:•«.'->/ } is'
7^.^-<...->^f^-^-j
FRUIT FOR THE KING'S SON
She took the silver cup from the King's son and
went into the garden. Berry-bright had gone into
the house for a vessel, and she came back with an
earthenware cup in her hands. When she saw her
sister holding the silver cup in her hands she bit
her lips in rage.
Buttercup went into the garden. She went to
the raspberry bush to pick the^ berries. But as
soon as she came near it, a flock of birds flew at
her : sparrows and starlings they were, and they
pecked at her eyes and her arms and drove her
back to the door of the house.
"Unlucky wench," cried the King's son. 'Let
the other maid come now and gather me berries
in her earthenware cup."
Berry-bright ran towards the red-currant bush
to pick from it the full of her earthenware cup of
berries. But the swallows of the air darted down
upon her. With their fierce eyes and wicked
mouths they drove Berry -bright out of the garden.
"Unlucky wenches, both," cried the King's
son. "Will I not be able to get from your garden
a cup full of berries?'
23
THE GIRL WHO SAT BY THE ASHES
Then Girl-go-with-the-Goats slipped from behind
the bush and darted into the garden. She took up
an old shoe that lay on the ground. She went
towards the black-currant bush, and no bird
darted in anger at her. Instead two starlings
flew down and lighting, one on each shoulder,
sang to her. Then Girl - go - with - the - Goats
gathered the black currants into the old shoe and
brought them to the King's son.
4 Oh, to be served with black currants out of an
old shoe and by a girl as ragged as this wench,"
cried the King's son. 'Out of my sight," he
cried when he ate the berries. He took up the
old shoe and he struck Girl-go-with-the-Goats on
the arm with it.
Still she did not move, but stood looking up at
him, her mouth trembling, but her eyes steady,
and the two starlings resting, one on each shoulder.
'Gawk of a girl, out of my way," cried the
King's son. Saying this, he rode his jennet for-
ward and pushed Girl-go-with-the-Goats against
the garden ditch.
Then he rode down the road, and the birds
24
,
FRUIT FOR THE KING'S SON
that had pecked at Berry-bright and Buttercup
flew up into the air.
And there stood Buttercup on the step of the
house with the silver cup in her hands, and there
stood Berry-bright inside the garden gate with
the earthenware cup in her hands, and each one
saying to herself, "Who was it that put bad luck
on me to-day?'
And there was Girl-go-with-the-Goats crouching
against the garden ditch with the two starlings
upon her shoulders, thinking that the very trees
around her were singing and that their songs were
like the light and like the darkness.
And there was her step-mother, Dame Dale,
coming up the path from the stepping-stones.
But now we have to tell you how it was that
Girl-go-with-the-Goats came to get that shining
star upon her forehead :
A shining star
Like a lonely blossom.
It was the Old Woman in the Crow-feather Cloak
who had placed it there for her. They had come
27
THE GIRL WHO SAT BY THE ASHES
together to the stepping-stones, the Old Woman,
holding under her arm the cake that Girl-go-with-
the-Goats had kneaded and made and given her.
'There is not much I can do for you, Maid-alone,"
said the Old Woman (for the Girl had not called
herself " Girl-go-with-the-Goats " but "Maid-
alone"). 'There is not much I can do for you,"
she said, 'except let the world see what I see in
you." And saying that, she took water from the
stream and splashed it on the girl's forehead.
And then came out the shining star. She told
the Girl to bend down and look at herself in the
water of the stream. The Girl-go-with-the-Goats
bent down and saw the shining star on her fore-
head. Oh, long and in wonder did she look on it.
And when she lifted her face from the flowing
stream the Old Woman in the Crow-feather
Cloak was not to be seen.
GIRbGo-WlTHTHE-l
G°AT5
1P5O H°USE R°
IRL-GO-WITH-THE-GOATS remembered on
the moment what she had to do to
make the house well-ordered for her
step-mother's return. She ran to the
door and pushed past her step-sisters,
and, taking the besom out of the corner,
she started to sweep the floor up towards
the hearth.
And then she heard Buttercup and
Berry-bright talking to their mother as
they came up the loaning . ' Oh , Mother,
said Buttercup, "I am as glad to see you as if
you had brought a Roc's Egg to me."
31
THE GIRL WHO SAT BY THE ASHES
"Oh, what will I say to Dame Dale so that she
will know I am as glad as Buttercup is to see her
back?' said Girl-go-with-the-Goats. 'A Roc's
Egg ! I could never think of anything as mag-
nificent as that !'
"Oh, Mother," said Berry -bright, "I am as
glad to see you as if you had brought a Phoenix
Feather to me."
"A Phoenix Feather!' said Girl-go-with-the-
Goats. 'I could never think of anything as mag-
nificent as that."
And then Dame Dale was at the door-way.
Girl-go-with-the-Goats went on sweeping towards
the hearth and her back was towards her. And
when she entered the house Dame Dale said, 'I
have to get the welcome from the hearth yet.
And what do you say to me, fosterling ? '
Girl-go-with-the-Goats turned round to Dame
Dale, the besom in her hands and her face all red
with blushes. 'I am more pleased to see you,"
said she, "than if you had brought salt to the
house when it was lacking it."
'The idea!' said Buttercup.
32
GIRL-GO-WITH-THE-GOATS
'The idea !" said Berry -bright.
But Girl-go-with-the-Goats knew what it was
for the house to be without salt for the bread, and
salt for the porridge, and salt for the egg. And if
the house had been without it there would have
been nothing more welcome than salt coming in.
But Dame Dale was angry when instead of hearing
of a Roc's Egg and a Phcenix Feather she heard
of salt.
'You are more pleased to see me than if I had
brought salt to a house lacking it," she said.
'That's to say nothing at all in welcome of me.
And it is you who should have given me the wel-
come from the hearth."
Girl-go-with-the-Goats turned round and swept
up the floor and tidied the ashes round the hearth.
'She can only think of what goes on her tongue,"
said Buttercup. 'How could fine words or fine
thoughts come into her head?'
It would have been better," said Berry-bright,
if one of your own daughters had stayed within
the house to give you a welcome from the hearth."
'How is it," said Dame Dale to Girl-go-with-
D 33
66
66
THE GIRL WHO SAT BY THE ASHES
the-Goats, "how is it that although I have given
you good food and good shelter, you never have
a good word to say to me ? '
Girl-go-with-the-Goats did not answer because
she could not think of a word to say.
'It was bad enough," said Buttercup, 'for her
to treat the King's son the way she did."
'Lord!' said Dame Dale, 'was the King's
son near this?'
'He was at the garden fornenst the door,"
said Berry -bright. 'He wanted berries off our
bushes. And we would have brought him the
berries in his own silver cup or in one of our best
earthenware ones, only nothing would do her
except bring him the berries on an old shoe she
found in the garden."
'So the King's son rode away from the place
in high dudgeon, taking hardly any notice of us,"
said Buttercup.
' How could such a thing have been let happen ? '
said Dame Dale.
'Indeed we would not have let it happen if
we had known she was there," said Buttercup,
34
GIRL-GO-WITH-THE-GOATS
"but she hid behind the hedges- -we know her
way - — and we did not see her at all until she was
standing before the King's son with the berries
in the old shoe.'1
"The idea of such a thing!' said Dame Dale.
"The very idea of it makes me shake with shame."
"Well, she turned the Prince away- -and oh,
how princely and fine he was looking ! - - and that
ought to be a satisfaction to her," said Berry-
bright.
"And I know he would have noticed me," said
Berry-bright.
"He certainly would have noticed my hands
when I held them up with the cup in them," said
Buttercup.
Girl-go-with-the-Goats had now tidied up the
ashes around the fire, and there was nothing else
for her to do but put the besom in the corner and
turn round to them. Her face was still red, but on
her forehead, like an apple-blossom in color, there
was a star.
And when she saw the star on the forehead of
Girl-go-with-the-Goats Dame Dale had to look
35
THE GIRL WHO SAT BY THE ASHES
from one to the other of her daughters. Neither
had a star on her forehead. And Dame Dale saw
that the face of Berry -bright was too high-colored
and that the face of Buttercup was too pinched.
And when she looked back to the star on the fore-
head of Girl-go-with-the-Goats she got very angry.
4 So," said she, "it is that mark on your forehead
that makes you too proud to talk to the people
and too proud to give them a fitting welcome ! I
suppose you put herbs or blossoms on your fore-
head to bring that out. But there's no one here
who wants to see it. Put your hand in the ashes
now and smear that mark across. And keep the
smear of ashes on it until the mark has gone away."
Girl-go-with-the-Goats bent down to the ashes
and took some on her hand and smeared it across
the star on her forehead. But Dame Dale was not
pleased either when she turned to her with the
star smeared over. Girl-go-with-the-Goats looked
like one she should be sorry for. But Dame Dale
could not be sorry for her on account of her not
giving her a fitting welcome when she came in,
and also on account of her having approached the
36
GIRL-GO-WITH-THE-GOATS
King's son, and having on her forehead a star
that made her so different from Buttercup and
Berry-bright. So instead of being sorry for her
when she turned round with the smear of ashes
across her forehead , Dame Dale took a more settled
dislike to her. "I wish you out of my sight,"
37
THE GIRL WHO SAT BY THE ASHES
she said, "and as you are called ' Go-with-the-
Goats,' go now and live with the goats. There's
the Goat-shed for you to rest in and sleep in.
Come to this hearth no more unless you are sent
for. Your supper and your dinner will be left
for you on the doorstep, and as for breakfast, you
can get that for yourself by taking some of the
milk from the goats in the morning. But al-
though you'll be outside of it, there will be the work
of the house that you will still have to do. Go
now," said she, "and may all bad temper go
with you."
Girl-go-with-the-Goats went outside, but she
thought she could not bear to go away from the
house. So she stood there with her hand against
the porch, and with her heart heavy within her
and her eyes flowing over with tears.
38
THE GIRL IN THE
G°AT-SHED
HEY shut the door behind her and they
pulled the latch down on it: she
knew that it was either Buttercup
or Berry-bright that did this." The
latching of the door was like as if some-
one had pushed her : she went away from
the house.
She went from the house and away
into the little dell where she used to sit
when she wanted to talk to herself. A
tree grew in that dell, a rowan tree
that had lots of bright red berries on it. She
used to sit under that tree when her seven
41
THE GIRL WHO SAT BY THE ASHES
Goats hadn't to be minded. She would talk
to herself about the clouds and the moon, how
the clouds were great Goats that a great Goat-
herd was driving : first the white fleecy Goats
and then the dark Goats that went slower and
slower, and how the Moon was a Girl like
herself, having to go far out into the sky for a
pitcher of water. When she was in this dell she
was, not Girl-go-with-the-Goats, but Maid-alone.
And the things that she owned and that she alone
knew of were in that dell : a red bees' nest that
hummed and hummed to her all the hours she
was there ; tall blue-bells ; a little spring of water
that she had set round with the white stones that
she had found on the hill ; a flat stone that had the
moving shadow of the leaves, each leaf as clear
as it was on the tree. And she had a box hidden
under the grass ; she kept in it all the things that
were her very own : a half of a buckle that looked
beautiful set in a bracelet of grass ; four beads of
different colors, and a ball of red thread.
She came to that dell and she laid down in the
grass and she cried and cried, for she thought there
42
THE GIRL IN THE GOAT-SHED
was no one in the world as lonely as she. But the
nest of red bees hummed to her and hummed to
her, and she sat up, thinking that her loneliness
was like something she herself had found, her
own too, like the half buckle and the beads and
the ball of red thread, and the nest of red bees,
and the blue-bells, and the little spring with the
white stones round it. She sat up then and she
looked at the sky with the clouds going over it,
and at the bunches of bright red berries on the
rowan tree.
Then down from the rowan tree flew the two
starlings that had lighted on her shoulders when
she gathered the berries for the King's son in the
garden. They perched on her shoulders again and
they sang to her. And the song they sang to
her was "Down the long meadows we go."
Down the long meadows we go, we go,
Down the long meadows we go.
I'll pluck you three willow rods down by the stream,
I'll pluck you three willow rods down by the stream,
I'll pluck you three willow rods down by the stream,
And give you the sun that's upon them.
43
THE GIRL WHO SAT BY THE ASHES
A Cuckoo all blue will sing on a branch,
A Cuckoo all blue will sing on a branch,
A Cuckoo all blue will sing on a branch,
And the Swan that's King Connor's will seek you.
The Son of the King of the Hill will be there,
The Son of the King of the Hill will be there,
The Son of the King of the Hill will be there,
Making game of his Grandmother's dancing.
Down the long meadows we'll go, we'll go,
Down the long meadows we'll go.
And when Girl-go-with-the-Goats — but Maid-
alone she was there - - when Maid-alone had heard
the song the starlings sang to her, she did not
feel herself half so lonesome.
44
And now Girl-go-with-the-Goats rose up, her
mind bent on the work of the house that she did
45
THE GIRL WHO SAT BY THE ASHES
not now belong to. When she came before it
the door was still closed. Smoke was coming out
of the chimney and she knew that supper was
being made ready. She brought peat from the
stack and left them beside the door so that they
could be brought in to the fire. She went and
brought up the clothes she had washed and that
had been left drying on the stones beside the
stream. When she did this she found her supper
laid on a board at the gable end of the house, and
while she ate it the two starlings perched on her
shoulders. Then she took the two pitchers down
to the well and brought back the water for the
morning.
The next thing was to bring the Goats from the
high places and the rocky places. She stood on a
high place and called to them. One Goat lifted
her head and came to her. Then three others
came, stopping now and again to crop the tops of
the little bushes. Beyond the bushes, somewhere,
was an old Goat that never answered to her call.
She had to slip off and find that other one and
pull her or drive her to this place before the others
46
THE GIRL IN THE GOAT-SHED
found out that she was gone. Then there were
two others to get. One she saw on a high rock
very far up, but this was a good Goat and would
come when she called, " Nannie, Nannie, Nannie."
The other was a Goat without horns and one never
knew where she was, but one found her joining the
others as they were making for home. Girl-go-
with-the-Goats struck the old cantankerous Goat
with a switch, dodged her horns as she reared up,
and got her started to the place where most of
the other Goats had gathered together.
It was hard to get them home. On the way
there were scores of little paths, and one Goat
would try one path and another Goat would try
another path, and Girl-go-with-the-Goats would
have to follow first one and then the other, and
no sooner would she have them together than
they would scatter again. Oh, it was the worst
trouble in the whole world, this fending for seven
Goats !
She got them in the green before the Goat-shed,
and she took off the doorstep the pitcher that she
was to milk into. For some reason or another
47
THE GIRL WHO SAT BY THE ASHES
the Goats gave little milk that evening and she
knew that Dame Dale would say that she had
milked them badly or that she spilled their milk.
Then she got the Goats into the shed, and she
took the pitcher and she left it in the stream.
It was getting dark now, and as she crossed a
wall of stones on her way back a little newt came
out from a crack and looked at her. She was
frightened of the little creature that is like nothing
else in the world, that moves so strangely, and
that has its house in the stones. She might see
the door of Dame Dale's house open, she thought,
and Dame Dale standing there to call her in, now
that she had done her work and that dark night
was coming on. But the door was closed. She
waited and waited, but no one opened it to her.
And as she stood there all the loneliness came
back to her and she thought that if her mother
knew that she was standing there with a door
closed to her she would come back from the Dead.
Then Girl-go-with-the-Goats went where the
Goats were. A big wooden cradle was in the
shed, the cradle that Buttercup and Berry-bright
48
THE GIRL IN THE GOAT-SHED
had been rocked in, and that had been taken out
of the house. She found the cradle and she lay
down in it. She covered herself all over with dried
fern, and she looked out through the door that
would not close. She thought and thought of
the hundreds and hundreds of strange things that
were outside. She slept, but she wakened up
sometimes, and she saw the black Goats and the
brown Goats and the white Goats standing up or
lying down, and she wished that she could be as
contented as the Goats.
49
THE, KING'S S°N
N the morning early she rose up, opened
wide the door and let the Goats go
through. She milked a little from the
brown Goat and drank the milk for
her breakfast. Then she let the seven
Goats go by themselves off to the high
places and the rocky places.
She went down to the stream and she
washed her face and her hands. Then
she stood on the bank and the two star-
lings flew down, lighting one on each
shoulder, and they began to sing to her. The
song they sang was of the Little Brown Jug that
53
THE GIRL WHO SAT BY THE ASHES
she washed every day and left in the centre place
on the dresser :
Little Brown Jug,
Don't I love thee ?
Bright and brown
Like a kept penny !
I'll fill thee with honey,
I'll fill thee with spice,
I'll border thee with flowers
Of every device.
I'll not let befall thee
A chip or a crack ;
I'll leave pewter below thee,
And delph at thy back.
I'll fill thee with spice,
And I'll fill thee with honey,
And I'd not part with thee
For a kettle-full of money.
Little Brown Jug,
Don't I love thee?
Bright and brown
Like a kept penny.
FIRE FOR THE KING'S SON
And when the starlings had sung to her, Girl-go-
with-the-Goats was not as heavy at heart as she
had been before.
Her next stint of work was to take a clappers in
her hands and go to the field and frighten the
crows from her
She did this until
hearing a call for
house. Dame Dale
She told Girl-go-
eat her dinner
at the gable
house and then
back the seven
step-mother's crop,
mid-day, and then
her she went to the
was at the door.
with-the-Goats to
off the board
end of the
go and bring
Goats from
the high places and the rocky places.
She ate her dinner of bread and milk and an egg.
Then she brought the Goats home. Her step-
mother told her she need not milk them as she had
to go to a certain place before the dark of the
night came down.
And where had she to go to ? To the Forge in
the Forest. And what had she to go for ? For a
pot of fire, no less.
55
THE GIRL WHO SAT BY THE ASHES
For all that morning Buttercup and Berry-
bright, after washing their hands with new rnilk,
sat dizening themselves as before. And Dame
Dale, being wearied from her journey, stayed in
bed. The consequence of it all was that the fire
on the hearth had gone out, and there was no way
now of kindling a fire.
And the only place to get fire was at the Forge
in the Forest. It wasn't in a forest at all, for the
trees had long since been cut down, and where the
Forge stood was more of a moorland than a
forest. But still it was called the Forge in the
Forest, and from all the houses around people
went to it for fire when their own hearths were
quenched.
And now Girl-go-with-the-Goats was bidden
take a pot in her hands and go to the Forge in
the Forest for fire for her step-mother's hearth.
She started off, and no sooner had she turned
the loaning when the starlings again flew down on
her shoulders. And as she went along the path
through the wood the two starlings sang to her;
whatever she thought of, that they sang to her.
56
FIRE FOR THE KING'S SON
She came out on the moorland and when she went
a furlong she saw the black forge. Two Dwarfs
with earrings in their ears were within. They
took two pieces of glowing wood out of their fire
and put them in her pot.
Back she went, hurrying now across the moor-
land because dark clouds were gathering. As
she went along the path through the wood the
starlings on her shoulders twittered their nesting
song. The wood was dark around her and she
hurried, hurried on.
And on the outskirts of the wood she saw a youth
gathering kindlings and fagots for a fire. She
came face to face with him and she knew him.
He was the King's son.
She put down the pot and at once she began
gathering kindlings and fagots with him. She
brought them where he was bringing his. She
laid hers down and built up a fire for him.
"This is the night when, according to my father's
councillors, I have to sleep on the moorland,"
said the King's son. He searched in his wallet.
*I had flint and steel," he said, 'but I have
THE GIRL WHO SAT BY THE ASHES
lost the flint and steel that was to make my
fire."
"I have embers," said Girl -go- with -the-Goats.
She took the burning embers out of the pot and
put them under the wood. A fire began to crackle.
"Leave me now," said the King's son.
'Would you not give me an ember out of the
fire I have kindled ? ' said Girl-go-with-the-Goats.
'I will give you an ember, but not two embers,"
said the King's son.
She took an ember from the fire. It was not a
weighty ember like one of the two the Dwarfs
had given her. It was a light and a waning ember.
She took it and put it in the pot, thinking she
would find fagots on the wayside to kindle beside
it.
She went on and on but she found no fagots.
And when she looked into her pot again the
ember had died out. What was she to do? She
walked back, and she saw the fire she had lighted
blazing up. She saw the King's son standing
beside the fire. She went nearer, but she could
hear his voice as he said to her, "I will give you
58
FIRE FOR THE KING'S SON
an ember, but not two embers." She was afraid
to go near him and have him speak to her again.
She went past the fire and she came to the wood.
It was darker and darker. But she put her feet
on the path and she went on towards the moor-
land where the Dwarfs were at work in their
forge.
At last she came out of the wood and she went
across the moorland, but the forge seemed far
and far away. On and on she went, with nothing
to sing to her now, and no living thing nearer to
her than the bats that flew here and there. And
then when she knew she was lost she heard the
clank of metal struck. The forge was that way.
Now filled with the hope that the Dwarfs would
give her embers again and set her upon her way
she went on more quickly.
The forge was far away, but at last she was
near it. It seemed different from the forge where
the Dwarfs worked, higher and wider. She went
to the door of the forge. Then, instead of seeing
two Dwarfs with earrings in their ears she saw but
one person hammering out the links of a chain
59
THE GIRL WHO SAT BY THE ASHES
on the anvil and that person was a red-faced,
grisly-bearded Giant.
The Giant saw her. When he looked at her out
of his red eyes she dropped the pot and turned
and ran. She ran and ran and ran and then she
took breath and told herself that no one was
chasing her. And then she heard feet scrunching
up the ground behind her. She ran on until she
fell down. She crept along on her hands and
knees and hid behind a bush, thinking he might go
scrunching by her. But she heard him snorting
and sniffing to smell her out as he came near.
She rose up to run again and then she felt his big
hands all over her. He wrenched her arms as he
picked her up ; he slung her across his back and
then he went on with her through the black wood.
60
CROW-FEATHER-
CLOAK AGAIN
E came out of the woods holding her by
the legs and carrying her slung across
his shoulder. Then with great stride
he went up the side of a mountain.
He crossed the top and went down the
other side so fast that the life was nearly
shaken out of her body. But now the
Giant lifted Girl-go-with-the-Goats up
on his shoulder and his gait was easier
for her then.
He went through a gate and into a
yard where she heard the yelping and howling of
beasts and the rattling of chains. He pushed
63
THE GIRL WHO SAT BY THE ASHES
open the door of a house. He left her down on
the ground and closed the door as a boy might
leave down and shut in the kitten of a wild-cat
he had taken.
The Giant shut her into the terrible house
that was all in darkness. 'Don't try to get away,
for I'll hear every sound you make," he said to
her. Then she heard him cast off his heavy
hunting-boots and throw down on the ground a
chain he carried. She heard him get into his bed.
For a while he talked to himself and then she
heard him snore in his sleep.
She sat in a corner all the night listening to
beasts' feet running, running in the dark before
the house. The light came and she saw the house
big and empty. She saw the Giant's bed and she
saw the Giant lying in it, with his grisly beard
nearly covering his red face. She saw the doors
of the house, one at the back and one at the front
with bolts on each of them. It was surely a
terrible house.
The Giant wakened up. He put his feet under
him in the bed and he looked at her. 'Ho,'3
64
CROW-FEATHER-CLOAK AGAIN
said he, ' ' this is the thirtieth maid I have caught.
I'll take her to the fastness where I have the other
nine and twenty.'5
He opened wide the front door and stood look-
ing into his yard. She stole down and looked out
too. A wolf, a wild-cat, a fox, a badger — all were
running here and there with chains upon them and
yelping and howling. The Giant took up the
chain he had brought and shook it before the
beasts, and they howled and yelped the more
angrily.
And then Girl-go-with-the-Goats heard a little
twittering in the window-opening above her. She
looked up and there she saw her two starlings.
'Oh, my birds," said she to them softly, "show
me, show me some way of escaping from the
Giant."
Then the two starlings flew down on the low
bench that was by the wall and they shrugged
their wings and twisted their heads and went
through all the ways of washing themselves.
And then they flew up to the window-opening,
and there again they shrugged their wings and
67
THE GIRL WHO SAT BY THE ASHES
twisted their heads and went through all the ways
of washing themselves. Girl-go-with-the-Goats
thought she knew what the starlings would have
her do : they would have her try to wash herself.
She spoke to the Giant who was still rattling
the chain at the beasts. 'Mighty man," said
she, 'would you let me wash myself?'
'Wash yourself and then come with me," said
the Giant. 'But I won't let you go out to get
the water." He stepped outside the door and
came back with a basin of rain-water. 'Wash
now," he said, 'and come with me to the fast-
ness where my nine and twenty other maids are
kept."
She took the basin from him and left it down on
the low bench. She stood there not knowing
what next to do. And the Giant went to the
door as before and made the beasts that were
outside yelp and howl with the sight of the chain
he held.
And now the two starlings flew down and lighted
on the rim of the basin. They began to splash
themselves with water. They flew into the basin
68
CROW-FEATHER-CLOAK AGAIN
and splashed louder and louder. Then she knew
how the starlings were trying to help her. They
would keep splashing and splashing while she
stole away from the Giant.
The back door was shut by a bolt of wood that
was within her reach. She put up her hands and
laid them on the bolt. Louder and louder the
starlings splashed in the basin. She pushed the
bolt back slowly. She drew the door towards
her. With more and more noise the birds
splashed in the water.
She opened the door a little way. She stepped
out and closed the door behind her. She stopped
69
THE GIRL WHO SAT BY THE ASHES
to listen. She heard the starlings in the basin of
water splashing and splashing and splashing.
And then Girl-go-with-the-Goats ran on, ran
on. Far, far she went before she stopped to
drink at a stream or pick a berry. Along a
pathway in a wood she went, fearful because she
did not know where she was going.
It was then she heard two magpies discoursing
to one another in human language: "When was
your tongue split with a silver sixpence so that
you were made able to speak in men's language?'
said one to the other.
'It was before the night of the great wind,"
said the second magpie. "That same great wind
blew myself and my cage away and ever since
I'm in these woods. And when was your tongue
split?"
' Mine was split before the battle in the sky was
seen," said the first magpie. "The people in the
house ran out to see the same battle and I hopped
off my perch and came away.''
'And when you want to speak human words to
whom do you go?' said the second magpie.
70
CROW-FEATHER-CLOAK AGAIN
"Oh, to no one else but the Woman of a
Thousand Years," said the first magpie. 'Her
house is down by this pathway."
"I go to talk to the Little Green Man of the
Mountain," said the second magpie. The two
went hopping off together.
Girl-go-with-the-Goats went along the path
that the first magpie had spoken of. She did not
go far before she saw a small black house deep-
sunken in the earth, with elder-bushes growing
71
THE GIRL WHO SAT BY THE ASHES
around it. The door of the house was open,
and she stole up so that she might first look to see
who was within.
An old woman was there spinning threads of
grey on a spindle. The only garment she had on
was a Cloak of Crow-feathers. She went in on
the doorway. 'Good evening," said she to the
old woman.
The old woman in the Crow-feather Cloak
looked at her from under her grey eyebrows.
'Good evening, girl that I remember," she said.
'May I come in and rest myself?' said Girl-
go-with-the-Goats.
'Come in and rest yourself," said the Woman
of a Thousand Years.
Girl-go-with-the-Goats came into that little
house, and oh, but her heart was rested to be
within a house that was not fearful to her. She
sat down on a stool, and the moment she did she
began to think of her step-mother's Goats. Where
were they, and who was minding them to-day ?
" Girl that I remember, would you eat or drink ? '
said the Woman of a Thousand Years.
72
CROW-FEATHER-CLOAK AGAIN
"I would take a drink of milk if you could
spare it," said Girl-go-with-the-Goats.
" There's no milk in the house, but this may do
as well," said the old woman. She brought the
girl a bowl of elder-berry wine; dark-red and
sharp-smelling it was. She drank the bowl of
wine and the fears that she still had began to go
away from her.
And then the two starlings flew into the house
and lighting on the window sill behind her began
to sing loudly and joyfully. Oh, it was well to
be here in this house, with the bowl in her hands
and the two starlings singing. She laid her head
against the wall, and no sooner did she do this
than she fell into slumber.
73
THR°UQH THE-THREE
\/°°DS ANDTo THE
KING'S CASTLE.
HEN she woke up it was evening; the
crickets were singing in the ashes
on the hearth, the rush-candle was
lighted, and the Woman of a Thou-
sand Years was sitting on the other side
of the fire supping her whey.
She heard a clatter before the door,
and then a strange creature came in.
The look of him made Maid-alone
afeard, but the Woman of a Thousand
Years said, 'Take no heed of him; he
is the Gruagach that we call 'Trouble-the-
House.'"
7?
THE GIRL WHO SAT BY THE ASHES
He had horse's legs, but for all that he was not
as tall as a horse would be if it stood up. He had
the ears of a horse too, but he had the face of a
poor-spirited man. He sidled to the dresser, and
he took down a brass plate and the tin covers, and
he began to polish them with a napkin that was
hanging on the line. He sidled to the fire then
and sat before it, his horse's legs folded under him
like a tailor's. He wore a long coat that was
made of plaited rushes, and he had hairy arms,
and big hands that he clasped behind his neck
when he sat down.
No one spoke to him and he spoke to no one,
and in a while he got up and took the pail and
went out. When he was gone the Woman of a
Thousand Years said, "If you can catch him while
he is doing some stint of work, and lay your
command on him, he will carry you through the
Three Woods. But you will have to come upon
him and speak to him while he is doing some task.'5
Trouble-the-House brought back a pail full of
water and then went out of the door. Maid-
alone heard the clatter of his hoofs outside, and
78
THROUGH THE THREE WOODS
the Woman of a Thousand Years told her he had
gone off to sleep in the middle of a field of furze-
bushes. "Catch him to-morrow while he's doing
some task," she said, 'and he will carry you to
the place you would go."
Then the Woman of a Thousand Years took
off her Cloak of crow-feathers, and she wrapped
herself in a quilt of small birds' feathers and gave
another quilt to Maid-alone, and they spread out
the rushes and the moss, and they laid down and
went to sleep.
Maid-alone dreamt of her step-mother's goats,
and of the Giant and his beasts, and then she
wakened. When she went to sleep again she was
happy that she was in a quiet house with only the
stir of the crickets to trouble her rest.
The Woman of a Thousand Years rose first,
and she went out to wash her face in the dew of the
morning. When she came back her eyes were
bright and her step was quick. "Maid-alone,"
said she, "I have thought of what is to befall you.
You must make no delay but go to the King's
Castle. Find Trouble-the-House and lay the
79
THE GIRL WHO SAT BY THE ASHES
command on him that he is to take you there
through the Three Woods."
Maid-alone, without waiting to eat her crust,
went out to look for Trouble-the-House. He was
in the field of furze-bushes where he had slept
the night. His coat of plaited rushes was off, and
he was brushing off his hide the thorns and prickles
of the furze. Maid-alone went straight to him,
but he rose up and went clattering away.
She went back to the house of the Woman of a
Thousand Years and ate her crust and drank her
bowl of elder-berry wine. Again she went to
find Trouble-the-House, and she came upon him
as he was grinding oats at the quern-stone.
When he saw her on her way he rose and betook
himself to the field of the furze-bushes. For the
rest of the day he did no work, and every time
Maid-alone came on him he was lying on his back,
idling his time.
This is what the Woman of a Thousand Years
told her to do : she was to sit by the fire with the
Crow-feather Cloak about her so that Trouble-the-
House would think that only the woman was there.
80
THROUGH THE THREE WOODS
And when he was fixing the fire she was to catch
hold of his rush-plaited coat and lay her com-
mand on her to carry her through the Three
Woods and to the King's Castle.
So Maid-alone put on the Cloak of crow-feathers
and the Woman of a Thousand Years put on her
brown habit and sat with her back to the brown
wall ; in the little light made by the rush-candle
she wasn't to be seen at all.
Then Trouble-the-House came clattering to
the door. He went to the dresser and took down
the brass plate and the tin covers and he polished
them with the napkin that was hanging on the
line. He threw side-looks at the fire, and when
he saw that it was burning low he came to it, and
squatting down before it put kindlings in. Maid-
alone laid her hands on his coat of plaited rushes
and she said : ' You must carry me through the
Three Woods and to the King's Castle this very
night."
"I'll carry you, I'll carry you since so you'll
have it," said the Glashan, and he rose up and
went out.
a 81
THE GIRL WHO SAT BY THE ASHES
'Go to him now," said the Woman of a Thou-
sand Years. 'You'll find him where he's taking
a drink of water at the well. Through the Three
Woods you will go : the Wood of Bronze, the Wood
of Silver, and the Wood of Gold. Pluck a twig
in each wood no matter what the Gruagach says
to you, and make him carry whatever the twig
turns into. When you come to the King's Castle
go into it by the least grand way, wearing the
Crow-feather Cloak that I now bestow on you.'5
The rush-candle went out, and Maid-alone saw
no more of the Woman of a Thousand Years.
She went out of the door, and to the well, and she
saw the Gruagach there taking a drink of water.
She bade him take her to the King's Castle, through
the Three Woods, and to make good speed. He
stooped down and she got upon his back.
They went on and on until they came to the
Wood of Bronze. The moon was clear in the
sky and it showed the glitter of the leaves and
the twigs and the branches. One wakeful black-
bird was flying and crying through that wood
as Maid-alone and the Gruagach went on.
82
THROUGH THE THREE WOODS
Then remembering what the Woman of a
Thousand Years had told her to do, Maid-alone
put up her hand and broke off a glittering twig
with its glittering leaves. The Gruagach pinched
her hands saying: "Beaten I'll be coming back
through this wood for the thing you have done,
girl. Break off no more twigs or I'll leave you
on the ground.''
But the twig she had broken off turned into a
glittering dress, with a glittering veil and a pair
of glittering shoes, and Maid-alone forgot the
pinches that the Gruagach gave her, such delight
was hers.
They came to a second wood. Still the moon
was clear in the sky and the leaves and twigs
shone white and bright. A wakeful cuckoo was
crying in the wood, and as they went on Maid-
alone broke off a silver twig with silver leaves.
It turned into a silver dress with a silver veil and
a pair of silver shoes. Maid-alone left it on the
Gruagach 's shoulders with the dress of glittering
bronze. But Trouble-the-House, when he knew
what she had done, shook her until she was dizzy.
83
THE GIRL WHO SAT BY THE ASHES
'Beaten I'll be when I come back through this
wood for the thing you have done," said he.
'Break off no more twigs, break off no more
twigs, or I'll leave you down to go your way by
yourself." Maid-alone forgot the shaking he
gave her, such delight was hers at the sight of
the silver dress beside the bronze one.
They came into the third wood. The moon was
still clear in the sky, and it showed leaves soft
as candle flames and twigs that were rods of
brightness. A nightingale sang in that wood,
and its song was like the moonlight on the
leaves.
Maid-alone was afeard that the Gruagach would
leave her alone in that wood if she broke off a
twig with leaves, and for a long time she would
not put up her hand to break one off. But she
might not leave that wood without taking a
golden twig with its golden leaves. Then, as
they were coming out of the thick of the wood she
reached up and broke off a shining twig with its
shining leaves.
The Gruagach slapped her with his great hands.
84
THROUGH THE THREE WOODS
" Beaten I'll be in every wood I go through for
what you have done, Girl."
But Maid-alone did not heed the beating he
gave her. For the twig and the leaves turned into
a shining dress, with a shining veil and a pair of
shining shoes. This dress, too, she put across the
Gruagach's shoulders, and the two went on.
After they came out of the Three Woods, they
went across seven ridges, but Maid-alone did not
heed the distance they travelled, for her mind
was on the three fine dresses that were before her,
the gleaming, and glittering, and shining dresses.
They came to a white river and they heard cocks
crowing, more cocks than ever Maid-alone heard
crow together before. And looking hard in the
direction that the cocks were crowing she saw
the roofs of the King's Castle.
The Gruagach put her down on the ground and
he left her dresses beside her. Then he loosened
his coat of plaited rushes, took it off, and putting
it across his shoulder started running back along
the way they had come. Maid-alone was left
standing beside a great tree.
85
\vATER. F°R THE
KINGSS°N
HE tree she was beside had a hollow in
it, a hollow wide and clean and dry.
She put pegs in the hollow and she
hung up her dresses there, the bronze
dress, the silver dress, and the golden
dress.
Then Maid -alone went in the direction
in which she heard the peacocks cry.
She came to the King's Castle with its
stables and its kennels, with its mews for
hawks and its meres for herons, with its
ponds for swans and its parades for peacocks.
She came to the King's Castle, and she found the
89
THE GIRL WHO SAT BY THE ASHES
/
least grand way to enter it, and she went that way
and stood before the grille that was in the lowest
door. When she knocked, the third of the under-
stewardesses opened the grille and looked out at
her.
"What do you want, Girl in the Crow-feather
Cloak?" said the third of the under-stewardesses.
"To work in the King's Castle," said Maid-
alone.
Then the third of the under-stewardesses said
to her, ' Can you mind geese, girl ? '
"Geese would be easy for me to mind," said
Maid-alone.
"Then come to me after the ploughmen go into
the fields and I'll take you to the goose-shelter,"
said the third of the under-stewardesses.
She closed the grille, but Maid-alone stayed
there until she saw the ploughmen go into the
fields. She knocked again, and the third of the
under-stewardesses opened the lowest door in the
Castle and brought her into the scullery and gave
her crusts and scraps for her breakfast.
Then she brought Maid-alone to the wide shelter
90
WATER FOR THE KING'S SON
where twoscore geese were lifting up their necks
and shaking out their wings and clangouring.
She gave her the rod of the goose-herd and told
her to take the goose-flock down to the marsh.
When the geese were all feeding in the marsh
with one gander to watch for them, Maid-alone
left them for a while and came out on the high-
way. Along the highway a coach with four
horses was coming. And at a distance from the
coach a horseman was riding with a hound running
beside him.
When the coach came near where she was
standing it stopped, and out of it stepped two
damsels grandly dressed. They were Maid-alone's
foster-sisters, Berry-bright and Buttercup. There
was a third person in the coach and she was Dame
Dale, Maid-alone's foster-mother.
91
THE GIRL WHO SAT BY THE ASHES
'It is the King's son who is riding behind us
on his high -mettled horse," said Dame Dale to
the damsels. 'Stand beside the coach now, my
fair daughters, and give him the chance of looking
at you."
Buttercup and Berry -bright stood alongside the
coach in their grand dresses and the King's son
came riding up to them.
'Is there aught we can do to serve you, noble
lord?' said Berry -bright. The King's son drew
the rein of his high-mettled horse and his bell-
mouthed hound stayed by him. "Is there aught
we can do to serve you, noble lord?" said Butter-
cup.
'If you would serve me, damsels," said the
King's son, 'bring me a drink of water from the
cold well yonder. '
'We have no vessel to bring the water to you,
good lord," said Berry-bright.
"Your own beautiful white hands will do to
carry the water in," said Dame Dale from the
coach.
Berry-bright started off for the well, and
92
WATER FOR THE KING'S SON
Maid-alone in her Crow-feather Cloak, unseen
and unknown by them all, stood near and looked
on.
Berry-bright came back with her fingers knit
together and her palms hollowed out to hold the
water. The King's son slipped down from his
horse to drink and the hands that were made white
with washings in new milk were held up to him.
The face of Berry-bright was red with pride, and
the face of Buttercup was white with envy.
But when he stooped down to drink, the water
had flowed away. He lifted his head and he
turned away from her.
Then Buttercup started for the well. She came
back with her fingers knit and her palms hollowed
to hold the water. She held up the hands that
were white with washings in new milk, and the red
of pride was on her face.
But from her hands, too, the water flowed away,
and after he had bent down to empty palms the
King's son lifted his head and turned away from
her.
Maid-alone stole to the well. She came back
93
THE GIRL WHO SAT BY THE ASHES
with her fingers knit and her palms hollowed to
hold the water. The water stayed within her firm
hands, and the King's son stooped down and drank
all that was held there. Dame Dale and Berry-
bright and Buttercup looked on the Girl in the
Crow-feather Cloak and knew her for Maid-alone
who had minded their Goats.
And the King's son looked on her and on her
queer Cloak of crow-feathers. He looked on her
once, and he looked on her again. 'He is wonder-
ing what hole she came out of," said Dame Dale
to her daughters.
'Bring water for my hound to dip his tongue in,"
said the King's son.
Maid-alone went to the well again and came
back with water in the hollow of her palms. She
stooped down and the King's son's hound put his
tongue into the water and then lapped it up.
The King's son mounted his high-mettled horse
and he rode off with his bell-mouthed hound
running beside him.
Berry -bright and Buttercup said not a word to
Maid-alone. They stepped into the coach and
94
WATER FOR THE KING'S SON
seated themselves beside Dame Dale and the
coach drove off towards the King's Castle.
And as for Maid-alone, she went back to where
her goose-flock was feeding in the marsh, and she
watched over them. Then when the sun was
near sinking she gathered them together and drove
them across the fields to the goose-shelter near
the Castle. When she was eating her supper of
scraps in the scullery she heard the news of the
Castle. The King's son was soon to choose a
wife, and all the maidens of the land were being
gathered for him to look at ; they would be
lodged in the fifty-five new chambers of the
Castle. Two had come that very day, arriving in
the fourth royal coach, and their mother, Dame
Dale, was to be the new house-dame.
95
VWATTHE
GEE5E TALKED
feed,
them.
N the morning of the next day Maid-
alone went into the goose-shelter, and
the two-score geese when they saw
her amongst them stretched up their
necks, shook out their wings, and set up
their goose-gabble. She had the rod of
the goose-herd in her hand and she drove
them out, setting the ganders marching
at the heads of their companies.
She took them to the marsh, and she
4
waited till they had all settled down to
leaving a gander to watch and ward for
Then she hurried from the marsh and went
THE GIRL WHO SAT BY THE ASHES
to the hollow tree where her dresses were hidden ;
she took off her Crow-feather Cloak and she put
on the first of her fine dresses, the glittering dress
of bronze, with the gleaming shoes and the glit-
tering veil.
She hung up the Crow-feather Cloak on the
peg that the first of her fine dresses had been on.
Then she went back to the swamp where the
geese were feeding. The watcher and the warder
for the flock saw her coming and
he set up his cry. (W The other geese
looked up and ^^^^^^^^saw ner- They
stretched up their J necks and they
shook out their <^§g8f; J wings, and they
cackled and "X^K clamoured and
crowded around ^^- ner< And whether
she sat down on the stump of a
tree or walked about in the sunlight, the geese
crowded round or followed her.
No goose fed, and no gander kept watch or ward.
Their necks were stretched up all the time she
was there in her gleaming dress, with her glittering
veil and gleaming shoes. And one goose kept
100
WHAT THE GEESE TALKED OF
saying that she was like a beautiful poplar tree,
and another that she was like a shining water-lily.
And an old goose kept saying that she was like
Helen of Greece that her grandmother had told
her about, Helen of Greece who was born out of a
Swan's egg.
So the geese kept on talking with their necks
stretched up. They neither fed nor kept watch
from the time she came amongst them in her
bronze dress. And when it was near sunset,
Maid-alone turned to go to the hollow tree to
leave back the first of her fine dresses and put on
the Crow-feather Cloak. The geese followed her.
She ran ahead of the flock, and she had the bronze
dress off and the Crow-feather Cloak on before
they came to where she was standing at the hollow
tree. She drove them back to the goose-shelter,
and they went on with their heads held high,
telling of the wondrous maiden they had seen in
the marsh. And one kept saying that she was
like a beautiful poplar tree, and another kept saying
that she was like a shining water-lily. But the
oldest of the geese kept saying that she was like
101
THE GIRL WHO SAT BY THE ASHES
Helen of Greece that her grandmother had told
her about, Helen of Greece who was born out of
a Swan's egg.
102
THE- KING'S -$°N-
OPES- SEEKING
that is how the King's son came to
hear of the beauty of the maiden
who had no name.
His Muime- -that is, his ancient
foster-mother — had a dormer-room above
the goose-fold. She wakened up before
the skriek of day and she heard the geese
tell of the beauty of the maiden who had
on a gleaming dress, with a glittering
veil and gleaming shoes. The King's
son's ancient foster-mother listened to it
all. She was a wise woman, and she knew that
the geese had seen what they were speaking of;
105
THE GIRL WHO SAT BY THE ASHES
for the token was that they had eaten next to
nothing in the marsh.
She went to the King's son, and she said to
him : 'Make no hasty choice, son of King Daniel.
The Maiden you wed should be one that the moon
would bow down to. And I want to tell you that
the geese in the goose-fold are telling of one who
has such beauty. You would be lucky if you
could find her, and my advice to you is that you
mount on your horse and ride to all places where
the geese have been."
So his Muime said to the King's son. Now the
first company of maidens had come that very day
and they were being lodged in the fifty-five new
chambers in the King's Castle. They had in-
vited the King's son to play Blind Man's Buff
up and down the stairs with them ; but he listened
to what his ancient foster-mother told him, and
although he had on the knee-breeches that best
showed his legs he sent a message asking to be
excused from the game, and he mounted his horse
and rode off to find the maiden that the geese made
such a clamour about.
106
THE KING'S SON GOES SEEKING
Maid-alone came to the goose-fold that morn-
ing wearing her Crow-feather Cloak. She drove
the geese to the marsh, but knowing they would
not feed if she had on any of her fine dresses she
made no change in her garb.
The King's son went riding by on his high-
mettled horse. He saw the white geese and the
grey geese feeding in great contentment with one
of the ganders a little way off keeping watch and
ward. A girl was standing there herding the
goose-flock, and her bare feet were in the marsh-
water. The King's son rode by.
And the next morning, though she came to her
dormer-window to listen, the King's son's ancient
foster-mother heard no talk of a maiden that
was as beautiful as a poplar tree, or a shin-
ing water-lily, or as that queen in Greece
that one's grandmother remembered. The light-
minded geese had forgotten what they had talked
about.
But they came to clamour again. The next
day Maid-alone left the flock feeding in the marsh
with a gander to keep watch and ward, and she
107
THE GIRL WHO SAT BY THE ASHES
went to the hollow tree and took out the second
of her fine dresses. All in silver was she clad now,
with a shimmering veil and glimmering shoes.
And what befell before befell again. No goose
fed that day and no gander kept watch and ward.
With their necks stretched out they told each
other of her beauty. They said the same things
as they said before. But this time they made
twice as much clamour.
When it was near sunset Maid-alone turned to
go to the hollow tree. The goose-flock followed
her. She ran ahead, and she had the silver dress
off and the Crow-feather Cloak on before they
came to where she was standing.
But they kept up the clamour in the goose-fold.
They wakened up the King's son's ancient foster-
mother before the stars had waned in the sky.
She heard about the beauty of the maiden who
was all clad in silver, and who was more lovely
than a poplar tree, or a shining water-lily, or
that queen in Greece that one's grandmother
remembered.
"What a loss it will be," said his Muime to the
108
THE KING'S SON GOES SEEKING
King's son, "if you miss marrying the beauty that
the geese go hungry from thinking about."
He was sitting in the King's Council Chamber
with the King's Councillors around him. And
what they were trying to decide was whether it
was the first or the second company of maidens —
the second company had just come - that had
the right to entertain him to the game of Throw-
ing the Apple.
4 A loss it would be indeed," said the King's
son, 'if such a one were near and I missed fixing
my choice on her." He went out of the Council
Chamber and he mounted his horse and he rode
to the marsh where Maid-alone was minding her
goose-flock. If she had on then her bronze or
her silver dress he would have been sure to notice
her.
But there she was standing with her Crow-
feather Cloak on and her bare feet in the marsh-
water. The King's son looked at her and rode
on to his father's Castle.
That day the geese fed in great contentment,
and the ganders kept watch and ward in their
109
THE GIRL WHO SAT BY THE ASHES
regular order, for there was nothing for a goose-
flock to stretch up necks to. But the next day
Maid-alone put on the third of her fine dresses,
her dress of gold, with her shining veil and her
golden shoes. She went back to the marsh in
that attire.
No goose fed and no gander kept watch. The
goose-flock told each other the things they had
told when she had on her bronze dress and when
she had on her silver dress. This time they made
three times the clamour they made before. The
King's son's ancient foster-mother was kept awake
all night. When the morning came she went to
the King's son, and she told him that he would
never have any luck in his life if he did not go off
at once and search for the beauty that gave two-
score geese cause for such clamour.
He was then standing on the steps of his father's
Castle, ready to receive the third company of
maidens that was coming that very day. But he
mounted his horse and rode off again. And he
saw a girl with a Crow -feather Cloak upon her
and with grey geese and white geese standing
110
THE KING'S SON GOES SEEKING
around her. And when he saw that sight he
rode back to his father's Castle and he told his
Muime that that was the last time he would ride
out to seek the Maiden that was without a name8
111
CEASEDBEINQ-
A • G°°SE-nERD
•P-3W
HE next happening was that the Pur-*
veyor to the King's Castle took stock
of the goose-flock.
He had to have geese of size for the
feasts that were to be given in the Castle.
He watched Maid-alone's flock coming
home and he saw that they were as thin
as corncrakes when they first come into
our meadows. He notified the third
under-stewardess of this and the third
under-stewardess went and told the house
dame. Thereupon the house dame said that she
herself would go and speak to the goose-herd.
115
THE GIRL WHO SAT BY THE ASHES
Maid-alone was standing before the table in
the scullery, eating her supper of scraps, with the
cold of the marsh still in her bones. The day
before the goose-flock had not fed because she had
shown herself in her dress of gold, with her shining
veil and her golden shoes. This day she had worn
her Crow-feather Cloak. But because two eagles
had come into the ash-trees beside the marsh and
had remained watching them all day, the geese
had not fed. When they went home there was
two days' hunger upon them and they had a thin-
ness that might be measured.
Dame Dale came down to the scullery to speak
to the goose-herd about it, and greatly surprised
was she to see that the goose-herd was no other
than Maid-alone who had herded her goats. She
had on a high-coifed linen cap, and her face grew
very red beneath it when she looked on Maid-
alone. 'So," she said, 'y°u kft my seven goats
straying to come here to let the King's geese go
starving. Wherever you are there are losses.
But what you've done here is the worst of aH,
and if you were in any other King's dominions
116
MAID-ALONE CEASED BEING A GOOSE-HERD
you would surely be tried for malfeasance ; for to
let the King's geese starve is a step towards over-
throwing the royal realm."
The high cap on her head shook with anger.
Maid-alone had never seen her so terrible. She
towered up in her xp, authority and Maid-
alone thought she j J would order her to be
thrown into a pit /-^^^^ °^ serpents. She
wished that ^^^^^ Trouble-the-House
was near to carry her from the Castle.
And then she saw that Dame Dale's eyes were
fixed upon the star on her forehead. It was not
smeared over. The look in Dame Dale's eyes
frightened her so much that she felt sorry the star
had ever been given her.
'I'll not let the geese go hungry again," she
said.
"We'll see that you won't," said Dame Dale.
'We'll get some one else to take them to the
marsh. We can't have the King's geese go low
in flesh and high in bone just because you want
to disport yourself in the marsh or wherever else
you take them to." She turned to the third
117
THE GIRL WHO SAT BY THE ASHES
under-stewardess, and she said, *I require you
to get another herd for the King's geese by to-
morrow morning.'2
"I'll go away," said Maid-alone, not knowing
where in the world she could go.
"I forbid you to leave the King's Castle," said
Dame Dale. "There's work here that has to be
done. We have no one to clear out the ashes of
the seven kitchens, and if you're good for nothing
else you'll do for a cinder-wench. Go, on this
instant, down to the lower kitchens and take the
task of keeping the hearths clear of ashes."
And that is how it came that Maid-alone, in-
stead of going to the marsh with the goose-flock,
stayed in the under-ground kitchens of the King's
Castle. There had been no cinder-wench for
long, and the ashes were deep on the hearths of
the seven kitchens. Maid-alone had to gather
the ashes and to draw them to the great ash-heap
outside. Soon her Crow-feather Cloak was all
grey with ashes. And the soot-drops from the
chimneys fell on her hands and her face. She was
black with the soot and grey with the ashes, and
118
MAID-ALONE CEASED BEING A GOOSE-HERD
the servants in the Castle would not let her come
to eat in the scullery. She had to take her dish
and her porringer on her knee and sit and eat by
one or the other of the great hearths. They would
let her have no place to sleep near them, and she
had to huddle herself by one of the hearths and go
to sleep over the ashes.
119
THE CURL VH° SAT
BY THE ASHES
HE saw no more of her white and grey
goose-flock, no more of the green
meadows they went marching through,
no more of the great clouds that were
above her when she stood in the marsh.
She heard no more the nuthatches calling
to each other in the bushes and the ash-
trees around. Always she was going from
one kitchen to the other, carrying her tub
of ashes, and the outlandish servants who
were there never spoke to her. And at
night, when she sat by one of the fires there
wasn't a cat there to keep her company. There
123
THE GIRL WHO SAT BY THE ASHES
were crickets there, to be sure, crickets a-plenty,
but she didn't like them, for they got in her hair
when she slept by the fire at night.
The Ratcatcher was the only one who spoke to
her. Once he showed her a Salamander that
lived in the fire, and he told her what to say when
one sees a Salamander :
Little Lizard of the Fire,
Will you stay and look at me ?
No, you will not ; you will go
Like a word that's said.
Only Dust of Diamonds flung
On your tail,
Little Lizard that breathes flame,
Makes you stay.
Often and often she looked into that fire, but she
never saw the Salamander again.
Away down a long passage there was a draw-
well that was covered over by a great stone.
When all the outlandish servants had gone out
of the great kitchens, Maid-alone would go down
to the end of that passage, clear off the stone, and
draw a pail of water from the depths. Maid-
124
THE GIRL WHO SAT BY THE ASHES
alone could not see to the water. But she would
let a pail down and draw it up filled. Then she
would wash herself clear of the soot and the ashes,
and she would coinb her hair with a comb she had
made, bristles stuck in a piece of wood. Then
for an hour she would be clean and fair, and the
star upon her forehead was to be seen. But no
one ever saw her at that hour.
Then a great stroke would go through all the
Castle. It was the Tower Clock striking one.
The outlandish servants would troop in to make
ready for the baking of the bread and the meats
for the morning meal. Maid-alone would then
have to clear the ashes from the seven hearths.
Her Crow-feather Cloak would become greyer
with the ashes, her hands and her face would be
spotted with the soot from the chimneys, and the
ashy crickets of the hearth would be in her hair.
125
THE BALL IN THE
KINGS CASTLE,
o one knew how many twisted stairways
and crooked passage-ways led from the
underground kitchens up into the main
hallway of the King's Castle. But
when you were in the hallway you saw
before you the great sweeping scarlet
staircase that went up to the grandest
chambers. Every night seven servitors,
dressed in velvets, stood on that stair-
case, ten steps above each other, each
holding a silver candle-stick of seven
branches in his hands to light the way to the grand
chambers.
E 129
THE GIRL WHO SAT BY THE ASHES
And in the grandest of the grand chambers,
in the Solar Gallery, no less, a Ball was being held
that was the grandest ever given in the Royal
Realm; it was being given by the King to the
Maidens who had come to the Castle and from
amongst whom the King's son was to choose a
wife. He was not required to make his choice
at this Ball ; there were to be three, and at the
finish of the third Ball he was to make his
choice.
There were a thousand candles lighted in the
gallery, but if there had not been one lighted the
gallery would have been bright because of the
hanging lustres and the standing silvers that were
there. There were citrons and pomegranates
heaped on the table ; there were seventeen fiddlers
wearing cocked hats in the little gallery ; and all
the maidens who came to the ball were required
to wear grass-green slippers so that their feet
might look well on the cloth-of-gold carpet.
Dame Dale gave her last commands to the
under-servants, and then she ordered a page to
go to her two daughters, Berry -bright and Butter-
130
THE BALL IN THE KING'S CASTLE
cup, and request them to come to her in her own
chamber. The damsels came with the page be-
hind them carrying the boxes in which were the
dresses they were to wear at the Ball. Dame
Dale dressed them from shoe-tie to necklace.
The wreaths they brought she would not have
them wear; she sent out to the King's garden
for roses of the white and red, and she made fresh
wreaths for them. She gave each a new, perfumed
pocket-handkerchief and a fan made out of swan's
feathers.
'I do not know," she said, ' which of you is
the best favored, but the King's son would make
a good choice if he should choose either of you."
Berry -bright looked at Buttercup, and she
thought that it would be a pity indeed if the King's
son was misled into choosing her, and Buttercup
looked at her sister and thought that somebody
ought to mention to the King's son that she had
a cast in her eye which she managed to conceal
very unfairly.
'Pray, Mother," said Buttercup, 'why do you
let people from the underground kitchens come
131
THE GIRL WHO SAT BY THE ASHES
out into the main hallway? I met the Rat-
catcher with his cage of brown rats, and I thought
I should expire with disgust."
"The Ratcatcher will have to stay below with
the other servants, including our own house-mate,
Girl-go-with-the-Goats," said Dame Dale.
"Is she in the King's Castle?' asked Berry-
bright. 'I should have thought, Mother, you
would have done something to keep her at a dis-
tance. You know she might claim kin with us."
"She is the cinder-wench below stairs, and we
have said enough about her," said Dame Dale.
She rubbed the cheeks of each of her daughters
with a hare's foot to bring out the color ; she put
nose-gays bound with bright ribbons in their
hands, and she took them along passages and
brought them out in the main hall, just in front
of the great, sweeping, scarlet stair-case.
Then up the great scarlet stair-case Buttercup
and Berry-bright went, each holding her nose-
gay high in her hand. The seven servitors, dressed
in velvets, holding the silver candle-sticks of seven
branches, lighted the way for them. And nine
132
THE BALL IN THE KING'S CASTLE
captive nightingales, in darkened cages, were
singing in the alcoves along the stairs.
Buttercup and Berry-bright entered the Solar
Gallery, and they curtsied to the right to the
King's son and to the left to the Peers who were
there. All the young Peers of the Realm were
at the Ball, but it was expected that no one less
than a Duke would ask any of the maidens to
dance with him.
A score of servants came in and scattered rose-
leaves over the floor. Then the seventeen fiddlers
tuned up their instruments, and played the
Laughter Tune, and if there were any there who
were not gay before, they were made gay then.
The King's son took off his diadem and the Peers
of the Realm took off their velvet cloaks, and the
maidens in their robes of gauze and spangle, of
silk and satin, walked round in procession. The
King's son and the Peers of the Realm held their
hands high for the procession to pass under; the
King's son took the hand of the last maiden, and
the dance began.
Whoever had known him before would hardly
133
THE GIRL WHO SAT BY THE ASHES
have known him now, so changed was the King's
son. He forgot all the importance that con-
versation with people in authority had given him.
He laughed as he danced, and he danced as he
laughed. He thought that each of his partners
was the only matchless maiden in the world. He
would not have to make his choice now, he knew ;
however, at the close of the Ball he would have
to ask the maiden whom he thought was the fairest
to distribute the citrons and pomegranates amongst
the company.
The King's son danced with dark-haired maidens,
and fair-haired maidens, and brown-haired maid-
ens. At last he came to dance with Berry-bright.
He admired the beauty of her white hands, and
he thought that she would be the one he would
choose to distribute the citrons and pomegranates
amongst the company. But then he danced with
Buttercup, and he thought that she was the one
he would ask to do it. For Buttercup had lovely
curls just touching her shoulders, and her con-
versation was very pleasing.
And after he had danced with Buttercup there
134
THE BALL IN THE KING'S CASTLE
was a lull in the music. The Chamberlain ap-
proached him and began to tell him of the points
of beauty that each maiden showed as she dis-
played herself in the dance. But just then he
noticed that all the young Peers of the Realm
were standing with their hands shading their
eyes to look at someone who had come into the
gallery.
A maiden she was, and she wore a dress of
bronze, a gleaming dress with a glittering veil
and gleaming shoes. She was slender, and her
white arms and her dark hair were lovely to be-
hold. On her forehead was a star; in her cheek
was a dimple, and on her mouth was a smile of
eagerness and joy.
She curtsied to the right to the King's son and
she curtsied to the left to the Peers of the Realm.
The Dukes whispered to the lesser Peers. The
King's son stood bewildered. The Chamberlain
dropped the notes he had made, for here was a
maiden who had points of beauty exceeding all
that the other maidens had put together.
Then the King's son collected himself and went
135
THE GIRL WHO SAT BY THE ASHES
to her. "Where have you come from, bright
damsel?' he said.
"I came from Ditch-land which is by Old Shoe
Garden," she said.
"And will you dance with me ?' said the King's
son.
'When you rede aright where I've come from,"
said she.
The King's son drew back from her, not know-
ing what to say, and the most admired of the
young Dukes came and took her hand and led
her into the dance.
When it was over the King's son went to her
again. But now there was a lull in the music,
and the fiddlers did not tune up for another dance.
'Dancing is over," said the King's son, 'but I
beg of you to come to the table and distribute
the citrons and pomegranates amongst the com-
pany."
Then the new-come maiden walked up to the
table, and those who were little looked over the
others' shoulders to see her pass. She took a
citron and a pomegranate in each hand, and very
136
THE BALL IN THE KING'S CASTLE
graciously she offered them to one of the maidens.
She took another citron and another pomegranate
and she brought them over to another maiden.
She took a great many citrons and pomegranates
and was bringing them to this one and that one in
the company, when suddenly there came a heavy
sound into the gallery. It was the Clock in the
Tower striking twelve. The new-come maiden
let the citrons and the pomegranates fall, and they
rolled upon the floor. She ran to the wide door-
way. Before any one knew that she was out of
the gallery she was speeding down the scarlet
stairway, past the seven servitors holding their
branched candle-sticks, and down into the main
hall. They saw her in the hallway. But when
the King's son with the Peers of the Realms, the
seventeen fiddlers, and the score of servants who
had strewn the rose-leaves came into the hallway,
the maiden with the gleaming dress, the glittering
veil, and the gleaming shoes, was nowhere to be
seen.
137
THE MATCHLESS
T^AIDEN IPSES-HER
Q°LDEN SLIPPER-
(ERE, the maidens were walking in the
King's garden, gathering roses of the
white and red, and telling each other
about this and that that was said at
the ball, and about such and such that
was worn ; there, Maid-alone, seated by
the ashy hearth, was eating her luncheon
of scraps and listening to the Rat-
catcher complain against the servants
for saying that he was letting the rats
eat up all the tallow that they had for
candles ; and yonder, in her lady's chamber, Dame
Dale sat listening to what her daughters, Berry-
141
THE GIRL WHO SAT BY THE ASHES
bright and Buttercup, were saying about the
strange maiden who was the last to come into
the King's ball.
"She came late and she sped away before the
end to start people talking about her," said Butter-
cup.
"And her slippers ! " said Berry -bright. ' Was it
noticed, I wonder, that her slippers were bronze-
colored ? That one should come to the ball not
wearing grass-green slippers was an affront to
the Chamberlain who had arranged everything
to bring out the gold on the ground."
"Nobody seemed to notice that she spoiled the
whole ball. Everything was going very agreeably
before she came in," said Buttercup. 'And the
King's son would have asked me to distribute
the citrons and pomegranates : that is one thing
I am sure of."
"You need not be so sure of that, sister," said
Berry -bright. "I saw him look from the citrons
and pomegranates to my white hands, and I
know for a surety what was passing in his mind."
Outside the King's son was looking over the
142
THE MATCHLESS MAIDEN LOSES HER SLIPPER
garden wall to see if the maiden who came last
to the ball was with the others. And not seeing
her there he sighed and rode away.
And at that very moment the Chamberlain
had finished writing down the points of beauty
of the maidens who were present, and all the
points of beauty that the Maiden in the bronze
dress had. She had no name that he knew of, but
opposite her count he wrote : THE MATCHLESS
MAIDEN.
Then the evening breeze came and shook the
strings of the little bells of silver that were hung
across the Solar Gallery ; the little bells chimed
and chimed, wakening the nine nightingales in
their darkened cages. The nightingales all began
to sing. The score of servants came in and
lighted the thousand candles and scattered the
rose-leaves on the cloth-of-gold carpet. Then the
seven servitors took their places upon the great
scarlet stairway, standing ten steps above each
other, each holding a silver candle-stick of seven
branches in his hand.
All in their gauzes and spangles and laces the
143
THE GIRL WHO SAT BY THE ASHES
maidens began to come up the grand stairway.
They all wore in their hair the high combs that
the King's mother had given them for presents,
and each had a rose behind her ear. When the
maidens had taken a turn in the Solar Gallery
the King's son and the young Peers of the Realm
came up the stairway, the King's son with the
diadem on his head, and all the Peers with velvet
cloaks, and the Dukes wearing diamond buckles
in their shoes. Berry -bright and Buttercup did
not go up the stairs with the rest of the maidens ;
when the others were in the Solar Gallery they
came in ; gracefully, as their mother had taught
them, they curtsied to the right to the King's son
and to the left to the Peers of the Realm.
That night there were more musicians than the
seventeen fiddlers in the little gallery. They all
tuned up their instruments and played the
Laughter Tune, and if there were any there who
were not gay before they were made gay now.
The King's son took off his diadem and the Peers
of the Realm took off their velvet cloaks, and the
maidens in their robes of gauze and spangle, of
144
THE MATCHLESS MAIDEN LOSES HER SLIPPER
silk and satin, walked round in procession. The
King's son and the Peers of the Realm held their
hands high for the procession to pass under; the
King's son took the hand of the last maiden, and
the dance began.
The King's son and all the Dukes would have
been looking over their shoulders to the entrance
of the Gallery to watch for some one else, only there
was a fiddler who played more enchanting music
than the rest. The Chamberlain signalled him
when the dance began and he stood forward and
played a music so bewitching that no one could
remember anything but the dance. The King's
son danced with Buttercup and with Berry-bright
and he smiled so kindly upon them that each
thought she surely would be asked to distribute
the citrons and pomegranates that were on the
table.
But the music ceased and nothing was heard but
the jingle of the little silver bells that were^hung
across the Gallery. The fiddlers had left down
fiddle and bow ; all the maidens and all the
Peers of the Realm were looking towards the en-
L 145
THE GIRL WHO SAT BY THE ASHES
trance of the Solar Gallery. The King's son
looked, and the heart in his breast gave a leap
when he saw that she had come.
• It was she indeed, the MATCHLESS MAIDEN.
All in silver was she dressed, with a shimmering
veil and glimmering shoes. Her dark hair fell
down to her waist and her eyes were full of light.
Slender was she as the barely noticed moon in the
sky.
She curtsied to the right to the King's son and
she curtsied to the left to the Peers of the Realm.
She stood as if she were listening in delight to
the chiming of the little silver bells that were
hung across the gallery.
The King's son went to her, and after he had
bowed, he said :
1 Where have you come from, bright damsel ? '
"From Lost-ember Moor," said she.
'And will you dance with me?' said he.
'When you rede aright where I've come from,"
said she.
The King's son drew back from her, not knowing
what to say. Then the Duke who had the largest
146
THE MATCHLESS MAIDEN LOSES HER SLIPPER
diamond in his shoe came forward and led her
into the dance.
Dance after dance went on, and one Duke after
the other asked the MATCHLESS MAIDEN to be
his partner. But when there was a lull in the
music the King's son went to her and said :
£We beg of you to come to the table and dis-
tribute the citrons and pomegranates amongst the
company."
The MATCHLESS MAIDEN walked with him to
the table, and those who were little looked over
the others' shoulders to watch her pass. She took
a citron in one hand and a pomegranate in the
other, and gracefully and graciously she offered
them to one of the maidens.
The King's son went to the gallery where the
musicians were. Besides the fiddler who played
enchanting music there was a harper there who
played music still more enchanting. The King's
son spoke to him, and he took up his silver harp
and began to play.
The music he played was so enchanting that it
seemed to all who were there that they lived only
147
THE GIRL WHO SAT BY THE ASHES
in his notes. They forgot what was before and
what was behind them. The King's son was the
most enchanted of all ; he stood still and watched
the MATCHLESS MAIDEN, the citrons and pome-
granates in her hands, giving them gracefully and
graciously to this one and that one of the company.
Suddenly there came a loud and a heavy sound
into the gallery. It was the Clock in the Tower
striking twelve. No one heeded the strokes, and
the MATCHLESS MAIDEN, filled with that enchanting
music, went on giving the citrons and pome-
granates to this one and that one in the company.
But suddenly she stopped and listened to the last
strokes of the Clock. The citrons and pomegran-
ates fell from her hands and went rolling across
the floor. She ran to the wide doorway. Before
anyone knew she was out of the Gallery she was
past the seven servitors and down the scarlet
stairway. They saw her in the hall. But when
the King's son with the Peers of the Realm, the
fiddlers and the harper, and the score of servants
who had lighted the candles came into the hall-
way, the maiden in the silver dress, with the
148
THE MATCHLESS MAIDEN LOSES HER SLIPPER
shimmering veil and the glimmering shoes, was
nowhere to be seen.
But now there was no one in the Castle that
wasn't concerned about her. Even the outlandish
servants in the underground kitchens heard of
the stranger-maiden who had made an appearance
at the two Balls in the Solar Gallery, and they
and the Ratcatcher talked for the length of a
morning about her, forgetting the quarrel that
they always had about the fewness of the rats
taken, and the great quantity of tallow that was
made away with.
The King's son called on the Chamberlain seven
times in the course of the morning. And each
time he informed him that if he did not do some-
thing to hold the MATCHLESS MAIDEN after the
Clock struck Twelve, he, the King's son, would
have him sent out of the Kingdom when he came
to the throne. The Chamberlain was all flurried
and flustered. He went to this one and that one,
asking what was to be done ; no one could help
him, and we verily believe he would have been
driven to distraction if it hadn't happened that
149
THE GIRL WHO SAT BY THE ASHES
he met the King's Fool on the grand stairway .
"How, in the name of all the King's horses, can
we hold the MATCHLESS MAIDEN who runs down
this stairway when the Clock strikes twelve?'
he asked the Fool. And the Fool put his hand
to his mouth and whispered. . . . But what it
was the Fool whispered will have to be told you
later.
Anyway the Chamberlain ran lightly down the
stairs and sprang lightly up the stairs. He had
the thousand candles lighted in the Solar Gallery.
He had the seven servitors take their places on the
grand stairway, with the silver candle-sticks of
seven branches in their hands. Then the maidens
came up the stairway, the little bright ear-rings
gleaming in their ears. Buttercup and Berry-
bright came in after all had assembled, so that
they might have the opportunity of curtsying to
the right to the King's son and to the left to the
Peers of the Realm, with all the airs their mother
had shown them.
The little silver bells strung across the Gallery
chimed in the breeze ; the nine nightingales began
150
THE MATCHLESS MAIDEN LOSES HER SLIPPER
to sing in their darkened cages, and the Peers of
the Realm and the maidens assembled indulged in
most delightful conversation. Not so the King's
son. He went from place to place and from
company to company. It was on account of his
restlessness that the dancing did not begin.
And even when the fiddlers tuned up their
instruments and played the dancing tune, and
when he was out on the floor with the partner he
had chosen, the King's son was ever and always
looking over his shoulder to the wide doorway
that was the entrance of the Solar Gallery.
Others, we must think, were looking towards that
entrance, too. For, as if it were at a signal, the
music stopped and the dancing, and all the com-
pany, the maidens and the Dukes they were
dancing with, all stood gathered together as the
MATCHLESS MAIDEN came in.
The King's son saw her standing there in a dress
of gold, with a shining veil and golden shoes.
She walked more gracefully than the others
danced ; a smile of gentleness was on her lips, and
the star on her forehead was plain to be seen.
151
THE GIRL WHO SAT BY THE ASHES
The King's son went to her. 'Where have you
come from, brightest of maidens ? ' ' said he.
"From where a dog's tongue lapped water from
my hands," said she.
"I cannot rede where that may be, but will you
not dance with me?'
"I may not dance with you till you rede all I
say," said she.
He drew away from her, and the best favored of
the young Dukes came, and, bowing before her,
claimed her for a dance. When the dance was
over, and when the music was still, the King's
son went to her and begged her to distribute
amongst the company the citrons and pome-
granates that were on the table. All the company
stood in a double line to watch her pass ; Buttercup
and Berry-bright were standing opposite each
other, and the bright little ear-rings fell out of
their ears with the anger that came over them.
The MATCHLESS MAIDEN took a citron in one
hand and a pomegranate in the other, and
gracefully and graciously she handed them to
Berry -bright. And again she took a citron and a
152
THE MATCHLESS MAIDEN LOSES HER SLIPPER
pomegranate, and gracefully and graciously she
handed them to Buttercup. To no others in the
company did she hand citrons and pomegranates.
Suddenly a loud and a heavy sound was heard
in the Gallery. It was the Clock in the Tower
striking twelve. The citrons and the pome-
granates that were in her hands fell and rolled upon
the floor.
She sped towards the wide doorway. Past the
musicians and towards the grand stairway the
MATCHLESS MAIDEN ran. One, two, three, four,
five, six, seven steps of the scarlet stairway
she ran down. And then something held her
foot.
It was the pitch that held her, the pitch that
the Chamberlain had put there immediately she
had entered the Ball-room. That was what the
Fool had whispered him to do when he met him
on the grand stairway the time he was near
distraction.
The pitch held her foot. The last strokes of
the Clock were being struck. The company were
running out of the Ball-room. The MATCHLESS
153
THE GIRL WHO SAT BY THE ASHES
MAIDEN took her foot out of her golden shoe and
went speeding down the rest of the stairway.
The last of the seven servitors saw her in the
hall. But when the King's son with the fiddlers
and the servants and all the young Peers of the
Realm came down into the hallway the maiden
in the dress of gold, with the shining veil and the
one golden shoe, was not to be seen. But the
Chamberlain was there, standing before the King's
son, with a golden shoe in his hands.
154
•TI1EWISESTV0AAN-
•C°A\ES-To-THE-KINQ'S
• CASTLE;
AVING the shoe was not the same as
having the shoe-wearer : they searched
and searched everywhere for the
maiden with the dress of gold, with
the shining veil and the one golden shoe>
but not a trace of her could they find
The Chamberlain went to search on his
own account : into every dwelling around,
hall or cabin, he went, asking every
maiden that might be there to fit the
shoe to her foot. They were all glad to
try, but on none would the golden shoe go ; it
was too small for the foot of every grown maiden.
157
THE GIRL WHO SAT BY THE ASHES
When the Chamberlain came back to the Castle
the King's son made a declaration that he would
wed only the maiden whose foot the golden shoe
fitted. Then the maidens who were still in the
castle sat ring-around on the lawn with their
little shapely feet bare. But not to the foot of
any of them could the Chamberlain fit the shoe
of the MATCHLESS MAIDEN.
Their mother had given Berry -bright and Butter-
cup a salve to rub on their feet so that the shoe
might be helped to fit. Buttercup rubbed on the
salve : as she did her heel shrunk away ; then with
great pain and difficulty she got the shoe to go on.
She stood up to walk to where the King's son
was standing, but the pain in her foot was so
afflicting that she had to sit down and cry to have
the shoe taken off. Berry-bright rubbed on the
salve, and her great toe shrunk away. With great
pain and difficulty she put on the golden shoe.
She stood up to walk to where the King's son was
standing ; but the pain in her foot was so great
that she too had to sit down and cry to have the
shoe taken off. And the end of it all was that
158
THE WISEST WOMAN COMES
Berry-bright and Buttercup had to go limping to
their mother.
What now was to be done to find the maiden
whose foot the golden shoe fitted ? This one and
that one advised this and that thing. But the
ancient foster-mother of the King's son went
straight to the King himself, and this is what she
said to him :
'Listen to the words of your gossip, King
Daniel : only a woman's wit can help your son
to find the MATCHLESS MAIDEN that his heart
is set upon winning. My own wits are not as
sharp as they used to be or else I myself would
help him. Now my advice to you is that you
make proclamation asking to come to the Castle
the woman who is the wisest in these parts. And
that you may know she is the wisest she will have
to come in this way : not naked, yet with no
clothes on ; not fed, and yet not fasting ; in no
one's company, yet not alone. The woman who can
come in this way will be the wisest in these parts,
and she, you may be sure, will help your son to
find the maiden whose foot the golden shoe will fit.'3
159
THE GIRL WHO SAT BY THE ASHES
The King took his gossip's advice : he made a
proclamation asking that she come to the Castle,
the woman who was the wisest in those parts.
And that he might know she was the wisest she
was to come, not naked, but with no clothes on ;
not fed, and yet not fasting ; in no one's company,
and yet not alone.
In the Castle and all around it every one talked
of the King's proclamation. The Ratcatcher
got so excited talking to the outlandish servants
about it that he let the brown rats, the three
biggest he had ever caught, bounce out of the
cage and go running over Maid -alone who, that
minute, was filling up her tub with the ashes of
the third hearth.
The next day when he was walking in his private
garden with his Councillors beside him a messenger
came to the King to say that one was coming to
see him in obedience to the proclamation he had
caused to be made. The King sent for his son
and for the Chamberlain, and he told the messenger
that whoever was coming in obedience to his
proclamation should be brought into his private
160
THE WISEST WOMAN COMES
garden. His son came with the Chamberlain and
with all the bright-haired and brown-haired and
dark-haired maidens who still stayed in the King's
Castle.
The maidens whispered, "How can she come so
as to be not naked, and yet with no clothes on ;
not fed, and yet not fasting; not in company,
and yet not alone?' And the Councillors
said to one another, 'What a great age she
must be, this woman who is the wisest in these
parts !'
And then she came into the Garden. Not old
at all was she, but young and slender. She was
not naked, and yet she had no clothes on ; she
was not fed, and yet she was not fasting ; she
was in no one's company, and yet she was not
alone.
All round her body a dark and heavy fishing-
net was wrapped ; she had a little apple between
her teeth the juice of which broke her fast ; and
on her shoulders there were two starlings that
saved her from being alone. The King looked
her over and over. 'Maiden," he said, 'as
M 161
THE GIRL WHO SAT BY THE ASHES
young as you are, I find that you are the wisest
woman in these parts."
The King's son took three steps to her and
stopped ; took three more steps to her and stopped.
And all the time he looked at her like a man who
was falling into or wakening out of a trance.
" Can you help us to find the maiden whose foot
this shoe will fit?' said the Chamberlain. He
always carried the shoe about with him, and now
he held it in his hand.
"It may be that I can, lord," said she. She
held her own bare foot as if she wanted him to fit
the shoe on it.
But now a whisper was going round that this
was the Cinder-wench from the underground
kitchens. "To think that she should imagine
that the golden shoe that was tried on many a
Princess would go on her foot," some of the maidens
were saying. The Chamberlain did not heed.
He was now so used to fitting the golden shoe to
a foot that was held for it that he went down on
his knees and brought Maid-alone's foot to the
shoe.
162
THE WISEST WOMAN COMES
Easily the foot fitted the shoe; easily the
Chamberlain buckled it on. And there stood
Maid-alone with one white bare foot and one
golden -covered foot standing in the grass of the
King's garden, while the two starlings on her
shoulders sang aloud.
"By all the King's horses," said the Chamber-
lain, 'this is no other than the MATCHLESS
MAIDEN !'
"No other than the MATCHLESS MAIDEN !' they
all said.
The King's son took three more steps to her,
and now it looked as if he were awakening out of
a trance.
'Will the King give me permission to leave, so
that I may put proper clothing on myself?' said
Maid -alone.
"By all means we will give you permission if
you say you will come back to us," said the King.
'I will come back," said Maid-alone.
Then, holding the golden shoe in her hand,
Maid-alone ran through the grass of the Kings
garden and out through the gate. The maidens
163
THE GIRL WHO SAT BY THE ASHES
talked to each other, the King talked to his Coun-
cillors and the Councillors talked to the King,
and the Chamberlain talked to everyone. But the
King's son stood silent and apart, watching the
gate that Maid-alone had gone through.
When they saw her again she had on a gleaming
dress, with a glittering veil and gleaming shoes.
The King himself rose from his seat in delight at
her appearance. The King's son went to her.
But all she said to him was, :You can rede now
where I have come from : from Ditch -land which
is by Old Shoe Garden."
Again she got the King's permission to leave,
and again she ran through the grass and out of
the gate of the King's garden. They all talked
and talked of her, saying that the King's son should
be happy now that he had found indeed the
MATCHLESS MAIDEN. But the King's son stood
leaning against a tree, with the red of shame com-
ing and going in his face. He was thinking of the
maiden who gathered berries in an old shoe for him,
and how he rode his jennet against her, while her
mouth trembled and her eyes looked steadily on him.
164
THE WISEST WOMAN COMES
All watched the gate for the MATCHLESS MAIDEN'S
return. She came in a dress of silver, with a
shimmering veil and glimmering shoes. The King
himself took a step towards her, and all the
Councillors began to say how dark her hair was,
and how full of light were her eyes.
The King's son went to her, but all she said
to him was, You can rede where I have come
from : from Last-ember Moor."
She got permission to go from the garden once
more. She went, and all went to the gate that
they might be quick to welcome her coming back.
But the King's son stood on shamefast feet : he
thought of the time when he had let her go from
the fire she had made into the darkness of the
moor.
She came again into the King's Garden. All
in gold was she now, with a shining veil, and two
golden shoes on her feet. The King himself took
her hands, and the maidens who were there
praised her for the star she had on her forehead.
But the King's son stood before her with head
held down. :You can rede now where I've
165
THE GIRL WHO SAT BY THE ASHES
come from," she said to him; 'from where a
dog's tongue lapped water from my hands."
Again she asked permission to leave the garden.
"But she is so lovely that we want to do nothing
else but look on her," said the King. "But,
please your Majesty," said the Chamberlain,
'no one has seen the MATCHLESS MAIDEN with her
jewels on."
'No one has seen her with her jewels on," said
the maidens.
The King gave her permission, and she went
out of the garden, leaving all high in impatience
for her return.
The King's son stood shamefast, thinking of
the time when he rode his high-mettled horse with
his bell-mouthed hound beside him ; she had come
to him, bringing water for him in her hands.
And he had not praised her hands, but had
turned her away, bidding her bring water in her
hands for his hound to lap his tongue in.
They watched and watched for the MATCHLESS
MAIDEN'S return. They would take her into the
King's castle, and give a feast for her, and bestow
166
THE WISEST WOMAN COMES
gifts on her. But though they watched long and
long she did not return. The Chamberlain went
out to search for her. He went to this place
and that place, and even down to the underground
kitchens, but sign or token of Maid-alone who
had come to be called the MATCHLESS MAIDEN
he did not find.
167
THE- C1PCK STRIKES 1
A "1^. TTV TLJC A TT^V V\ T /*"W Tl~5
AND
STAYS
that made a year went by ; the
maidens went away from the Castle,
and Dame Dale married her two limp-
ing daughters, Berry -bright and Butter-
cup, to the kennel-master and the stable-
master. But still the King's son went
searching for the MATCHLESS MAIDEN.
He made many journeys and he
brought certain quests to an end ; but no
Maid-alone did he find at the end of the
quest or the end of the journey. Often
the falconers saw him standing at the edge of
the marsh, where, her bare feet in the marsh
171
THE GIRL WHO SAT BY THE ASHES
water, he had seen Maid-alone with the white
and grey goose-flock around her.
It was his Muime who told him about the two
starlings that used to fly beside him when he
rode abroad and come back with him from his
journeys. They had their shelter beside her
dormer window, and that is how she had come
to notice them. Well, the next time he rode
out he watched for the starlings and he fol-
lowed where they flew. Down winding laneways
they brought him where only elder-bushes and
briers grew. On he rode after them till he
came to a small black house deep-sunken in the
ground.
He went to the door and looked into the house.
There, sitting by the fire and spinning grey
threads on an old spindle he saw a woman in a
Cloak of Crow Feathers. He left his horse stand-
ing and stepped into the house. The old woman
looked at him and said, "Tell me what you have
come to seek.'1
'The maiden who once wore the cloak you
wear," said he.
172
THE CLOCK STRIKES AND MAID-ALONE STAYS
"Where did that maiden come to you from?'
said she.
"She came from Ditch -land, by Old Shoe
Garden," said he, "and from Last-ember Moor,
and from where a dog lapped water out of her
hands."
"And have you betaken yourself to all these
places ?" said the old woman in the Cloak of Crow
Feathers.
"I have. Many days did I spend searching
for the shoe that was thrown down there. I found
it. And on Last-ember Moor I spent days looking
for the pot that was brought there. I fought
with a Giant and did not come off scatheless.
But I found and I have the pot. Then I sat by
the well from which one brought water for a dog
to lap his tongue in. Many days I was there, and
I brought water to all the dogs that went past."
The Woman of a Thousand Years rose up and
brought the King's son to the garden that was
behind her little house. And there he saw Maid-
alone standing in a little stream and gathering
cresses.
173
THE GIRL WHO SAT BY THE ASHES
Not the bronze dress, nor the silver dress, nor
the gold dress had she on now. She was dressed
in brown wincey, and her feet were bare. But
more than ever in the King's son's eyes did she
look the MATCHLESS MAIDEN.
Just as he laid his eyes on her one burst through
the hedge and came to her. It was the Chamber-
lain from the Castle. He cried out, 'I have
found you at last. Come with me to the King's
Castle, and to one who is dying for love of you.'3
She said, "Who is there that remembers me?'
"I, I, I !" cried the King's son.
Maid-alone came again to the King's Castle :
she looked on its stables and its kennels; its
mews for the hawks and its meres for the herons ;
its ponds for the swans and parades for the pea-
cocks ; she looked on the little door that the third
under-stewardess had opened to her on the morn-
ing she first came. By that little door she entered
now. She went softly past the scullery where she
used to eat her meal of scraps before she was
banished to the ashy hearths, and she went past
174
THE CLOCK STRIKES AND MAID-ALONE STAYS
the Ratcatcher who was standing by his cage of
brown rats, telling the outlandish servants that
tallow was the one thing in the Castle that rats
would not eat. She came to where the crooked
passages and the winding stairways led up to the
main hallway. Before her was the great, sweep-
ing, scarlet staircase. All alone she went up it,
and there were no servitors standing there in their
velvets, with branched silver candle-sticks in
their hands. And all alone she entered the Solar
Gallery, and she found a cushioned seat before a
fire of peat, and she sat down on it.
And into the Solar Gallery, closing the door
behind him, came another. It was the King's
son. Citrons and pomegranates were on the
table, and he brought them to her, taking a place
on a cushioned seat beside her. Then into the
gallery came a loud and a heavy sound. It was
the Clock in the Tower striking twelve. Maid-
alone let the citrons and the pomegranates fall.
But they did not roll far. Nor did she stand up to
run away, for she remembered that she and the
King's son were wed, and that two starlings had
175
THE GIRL WHO SAT BY THE ASHES
sung at their wedding, and that they had leave
to be together even though the clock struck twelve.
END
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